DUBAI: Shaheen Afridi, the hero of Lahore Qalandars’ maiden win in Pakistan Super League 2018, has said that he bowled according to plan which helped him pick up five key wickets against Multan Sultans at Dubai Stadium on Friday.
Speaking to Geo.tv, the young pacer said he was planning to deliver every ball as a dot-ball and, with that attempt, he got five important wickets.
“My target was to deliver every ball as a dot-ball and I first got wicket of Shoaib Malik. He is Pakistan’s star and I feel good to have taken his wicket,” Afridi said.
Afridi bowled 3.4 overs (22 deliveries) and 18 of his deliveries were dot-balls. The 17-year-old bowler from Khyber Agency conceded just four singles and took five wickets to end with figures of 3.4-1-4-5 in the match.
And Afridi had this target in his mind when he was coming to the stadium.
“We were talking in the bus today and Sameen bhai [team manager and franchise COO] asked me what you would do today. I promised him to I would five wickets. He told me that not just five wickets, but you have to bowl every ball with passion,” he said.
Replying to a question, Afridi said the team was under immense pressure and he was also feeling the heat because he had been unable to bowl properly ahead of Friday’s match.
“I wasn’t able to bowl well earlier because I was playing T20s for the first time,” he said.
“We were so demoralised after back-to-back defeats and I was also unable to perform in the previous game. I had a plan to prove myself today and thankfully I managed to bowl according to the plan and got five-fer,” he said.
The young paceman also received praise from another Afridi of the cricketing fraternity, Shahid Afridi, who tweeted in support of the young fast bowler.
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